f'i ej* v * i v > . C^sVlVwV 


\ 


CONSTITUTION 

s' 

OF 

4.0 

NEBRASKA 




* 9 

) ) > 


Compiled and Distributed Under the Au 
thority of D. M. Amsberry, 
Secretary of State 


s 


i 

































CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF NEBRASKA, 

of 1875, 


AND SUBSEQUENT AMENDMENTS AS AMENDED 


BY THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION 


of 1919-20. 


PREAMBLE. We, the people, grateful to Almighty God for our 
freedom, do ordain and establish the following declaration of rights ana 
frame of government, as the Constitution of the State of Nebraska. 


ARTICLE I—BILL OF RIGHTS. 


Section 1. All persons are by nature free and independent, and 
have certain inherent and inalienable rights; among these are life, 
liberty and the pursuit of happiness. To secure these rights, and the 
protection of property, governments are instituted among people, deriv¬ 
ing their just powers from the consent of the governed. 

Sec. 2. There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude 
in this state, otherwise than for punishment of crime, whereof the party 
shall have been duly convicted. 

Sec. 3. No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property, 
without due process of law. 

Sec. 4. All persons have a natural and indefeasible light to wor¬ 
ship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own consciences. 
No person shall be compelled to attend, erect or support any place oi 
worship against his consent, and no preference shall be given by law 
to any religious society, nor shall any interference with the rights of 
conscience be permitted. No religious test shall be required as a quali¬ 
fication for office, nor shall any person be incompetent to be a witness 
on account of his religious belief; but nothing herein shall be construed 
to dispense with oaths and affirmations. Religion, morality, and knowl¬ 
edge, however, being essential to good government, it shall be the duty 
of the Legislature to pass suitable laws to protect every religious denomi¬ 
nation in the peaceable enjoyment of its own mode of public worship, 
and to encourage schools and the means of instruction. 

iSec. 5. Every person may freely speak, write and publish on all 
subjects, being responsible for the abuse of that liberty, and in all trials 
for libel, both civil and criminal, the truth when published with good 
motives, and for justifiable ends, shall be a sufficient defense. 


Sec. 6. The right of trial by jury shall remain inviolate, but the 
Legislature may authorize trial by a jury of a less number rlian twelve 


4 


THE CONSTITUTION OF 


in courts inferior to the District Court, and may by general law author¬ 
ize a verdict in civil cases in any court by not less than five-sixths of 
the jury. 

Sec. 7. The right of the people to be secure in their persons, 
houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizuics 
shall not be violated; and no warrant shall) issue but upon probable 
cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the 
place to be searched, and the person or thing to be seized. 

Sec. 8. The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be 
suspended, unless in case of rebellion or invasion, the public safety re¬ 
quires it, and then only in such manner as shall be prescribed by law. 

Sec. 9. All persons shall be bailable by sufficient sureties, except 
for treason and murder, where the proof is evident or the presumption 
great. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, 
nor cruel and unusual punishment inflicted. 

Sec. 10. No person shall be held to answer for a criminal offense, ex¬ 
cept in cases in which the punishment is by fine, or imprisonment 
otherwise than in the penitentiary, in case of impeachment, and in cases 
arising in the army and navy, or in the militia when in actual service 
in time of war or public danger, unless on a presentment or indictment 
of a grand jury; Provided, That the Legislature may, by law, provide 
for holding persons to answer for criminal offenses on information of 
a public prosecutor; and may, by law, abolish, limit, change, amend or 
otherwise regulate the grand jury system. 

Sec. 11. In all criminal prosecutions the accused shali have the 
right to appear and defend in person or by counsel, to demand the na¬ 
ture and cause of accusation, and to have a copy thereof; to meet the 
witnesses against him face to face, to have process to compel the at¬ 
tendance of witnesses in his behalf; and a speedy public trial by an 
impartial jury of the county or district in which the offence is allegeu 
to have been committed. 

Sec. 12. No person shall be compelled, in any criminwl case, to 
give evidence against himself, or be twice put in jeopardy for the same 
offense. 

Sec. 13. All courts shall be open, and every person, for any in 
jury done him in his lands, goods, person, or reputation, shall have a 
remedy by due course of law, and justice administered without denial 
or delay. 

Sec. 14. Treason against the state shall consist only in levying 
war against the state, or in adhering to its enemies, giving them aid 
ar/1 comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the 


THE STATE OF NEBRASKA 


testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in 
open court. 

See. 15. All penalties shall be proportioned to the nature of the 
offense, and no conviction shall work corruption of blood or forfeiture 
of estate; nor shall any person be transported out of the state for any 
offense committed within the state. 

Sec. 16. No bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law impairing; 

the obligation of contracts, or making any irrevocable grant of special 

privileges or immunities shall be passed. 

Sec. 17. The military shall be in strict subordination to the civil 
power. 

Sec. 18. No soldier shall in time of peace be quartered in any 

house without the consent of the owner; nor in time of war except in the 

/ 

manner prescribed by law. 

Sec. 19. The right of the people peaceably to assemble to consult 
for the common good, and to petition the government, or any depart¬ 
ment thereof, shall never be abridged. 

Sec. 20. No person shall be imprisoned for debt in any civil action 
or mesne or final process, unless in cases of fraud. 

Sec. 21. The property of no person shall be taken or damaged for 
public use without just compensation therefor. 

Sec. 22. All elections shall be free; and there shall be no hind¬ 
rance or impediment to the right of a qualified voter to exercise the 
elective franchise. 

Sec. 23. The writ of error shall be a writ of right in all cases of 
felony; and in capital cases shall operate as a supersedeas to stay the 
execution of the sentence of death, until the further order of the Su¬ 
preme Court in the premises. 

Sec. 24. The right to be heard in all civil cases in the court of 
last resort, by appeal, error, or otherwise, shall not be denied. 

Sec. 25. There shall be no discrimination between citizens of the 
United States in respect to the acquisition, ownership, possession, en¬ 
joyment or descent of property. 

The right of aliens in respect to the acquisition, enjej merit and 
descent of property may be regulated by law. 

Sec. 26. Thf't enumeration of rights shall not be construed to im¬ 
pair or deny others, retained by the people, and all powers not herein 
delegated, remain with the people. 




« 


THE CONSTITUTION OF 


Sec. 27. Tile English language is hereby declared to be the officia 1 
language of this state, and all official proceedings, records and publica¬ 
tions shall be in such language, and the common school branches shall 
be taught in said language in public, private, denominational and pa¬ 
rochial schools. 

ARTICLE II—DISTRIBUTION OF POWERS 

Section 1. The powers of the government of this state ; re divided 
Into three distinct departments, the Legislative, Executive and Judicial, 
and no person or collection, of persons being one of these departments, 
shall exercise any power properly belonging to either ol the others 
except as hereinafter expressly directed or permitted. 

ARTICLE III—LEGISLATIVE. 

Section 1. The legislative authority of the state shall be vested in 
a Legislature consisting of a Senate and House of Representatives, but 
the people reserve to themselves power to propose laws, und amend 
ments to the Constitution, and to enact or reject the same at the polls 
independent ot the Legislature, and also reserve power at their owr 
option to approve or reject at the polls any act, item, section, or part 
of any act passed by the Legislature. 

Sec. 2. The first power reserved by the people is the initiative 
whereby laws may be enacted and constitutional amendments adopted 
by the people independently of the Legislature. This power may be 
invoked by petition wherein the proposed measure shall be set forth at 
length. If the petition be for the enactment of a law, it shall be signed 
by seven per cent of the electors of the state and if the petition be for 
the amendment of the Constitution, the petition therefor shall be signed by 
ten per cent of such electors. In all cases the electors signing such peti¬ 
tion shall be so distributed as to include five per cent of the electors of 
each of two-fifths of the counties of the state and when tnus signed 
the petition shall be filed with the Secretary of State, who shall sub¬ 
mit the measure thus proposed to the electors of the state at the first 
general election held not less than four months after such petition shall 
have been filed. The same measure, either in form or in essential sub¬ 
stance, shall not be submitted to the people by initiative petition, either 
affirmatively or negatively, oftener than once in three years. If conflict¬ 
ing measures submitted to the people at the same election be approved, 
the one receiving the highest number of affirmative votes shall thereby 
become law as to all conflicting provisions. The constitutional limita¬ 
tions as to the scope and subject matter of statutes enacted by the 
Legislature shall apply to those enacted by the initiate.' 1 10 

Sec. 3. The second power reserved is the referendum which may 
be invoked, by petition, against any act or part of an act of the Legis- 




1 


( 


THE STATE OF NEBRASKA 7 

lature, except those making appropriations for the expense of the state 
government or a state institution existing at the time of the passage 
of such act. Petitions invoking the referendum shall be signed by not 
less than five per cent of the electors of the state, distributed as re¬ 
quired for initiative petitions, and filed in the office of the Secretary of 
State within ninety days after the Legislature at which the act sought 
to be referred was passed shall have adjourned sine die or for more 
than ninety days. Such petition shall set out the title of the act 
against w r hich the referendum is invoked, and in addition thereto, when 
only a portion of the act is sought to be referred, the number of the sec 
tion or sections or portion of sections of the act designating such por 
tlon. When ihe referendum is thus invoked, the Secretary of State 
shall refer the same to the electors for approval or rejection at the first 
general election to be held not less than thirty days after the filing 
of such petition. 

When the referendum is invoked, as to any act or part of act, other 
than emergency acts or those for the immediate preservation of the pub¬ 
lic peace, health or safety, by petition signed by not less than ten per 
cent of the electors of the state, distributed as aforesaid, it shall sus¬ 
pend the taking effect of such act or part of act until the same has 
been approved by the electors of the state. 

Sec. 4. The whole number of votes cast for Governor at the gen¬ 
eral election next preceding the filing of an initiative or referendum 
petition shall be the basis on which the number of signatures to such 
petition shall be computed. The veto power of the: Governor shall not 
extend to measures initiated by or referred to the people. A measure 
initiated shall become a law or part of the Constitution, as the case 
may be, when a majority of the votes cast thereon, and not less than 
thirty-five per cent of the total vote cast at the election at which the 
same w r as submitted, are cast in favor thereof, and shall take effect 
upon proclamation by the governor which shall be made within ten 
days after the official canvass of such votes. The vote upon initiative 
and referendum measures shall be returned and canvassed in tho> man¬ 
ner prescribed for the canvass of votes for president. The method of 
submitting and adopting amendments to the Constitution provided by 
this section shall be supplementary to the method prescribed in the. 
article of this Constitution, entitled, “Amendments” and the latter shall 
in no case be construed to conflict herewith. .The provisions with re¬ 
spect to the initiative and referendum shall be self-executing, but legis¬ 
lation may be enacted to facilitate their operation. All propositions 
submitted in pursuance hereof shall be submitted in a non-partisan 
manner and without any indication or suggestion on the ballot that they 
have been approved or endorsed by any political party or organization. 
Only the title or proper descriptive words of measures shall be printed 
on the ballot and when two or more measures have the same title they 


8 


THE CONSTITUTION OP 


shall be numbered consecutively in the order of filing with the Secre¬ 
tary of (State and the number shall be followed by the name of the 
first petitioner on the corresponding petition. 

Sec. 5. At the regular session of the Legislature held in the yeai 
nineteen hundred and twenty-one the Legislature shall by law divide the 
state into Senatorial and Representative Districts. In the creation of 
Senatorial and Representative Districts, any county that contains popu¬ 
lation sufficient to entitle it to two or more Senators or Representatives, 
shall be divided into separate and distinct Senatorial and Representa¬ 
tive Districts, as nearly equal in population as may be and composed 
of contiguous and compact territory. After the creation of such dis¬ 
tricts, one Senator shall be elected from each Senatorial District and 
one Representative from each Representative District. The basis of 
apportionment shall be the population, excluding aliens, as shown by 
next preceding federal census. In like manner, when necessary to a 
correction of inequalities in the population of such districts, the state 
may be redistricted from time to time, but not oftener than once in 
ten years. 

Sec. 6. The House of Representatives shall consist of not more than 
one hundred members and the Senate of not more than fifty members. 
The sessions of the Legislature shall be biennial, except as otherwise pro¬ 
vided by this Constitution. 

Sec. 7. Senators and representatives shall be elected for a term 
of two years. They shall each receive the sum of eight hundred dol¬ 
lars for attendance at each regular biennial session of the Legislature 
and ten dollars for each day in actual attendance at special sessions; 
but in no case shall compensation for attendance at any one special 
session exceed one hundred dollars. They shall also be paid ten cents 
per mile for each mile traveled in once going to and returning from 
each regular or special session of the Legislature by tho most usual 
route. Members of the Legislature shall receive no pay nor perqui¬ 
sites other than their mileage and salary or per diem, as the case may 
be, nor shall employees receive any other compensation than tlieir 
salary or per diem. After the expiration of twenty days of the session, 
no bills nor joint resolutions of the nature of bills shall be introduced, 
unless the Governor shall, by special message call the attention of the 
Legislature to the necessity of passing a law on the subject matter em¬ 
braced in the message, and the introduction of bills shall be restricted 
thereto. Provided, that the general appropriation bills may be intro¬ 
duced up to and including the fortieth day. 

Sec. 8. No person shall be eligible to thei office of Senator, or mem¬ 
ber of the House of Representatives, who shall not be an elector and have 
resided within the district from which lie is elected for the term of one 
year next before his election, unless he shall have been absent on the 
public business of the United States or of this state. And no person 


THE STATE OF NEBRASKA 


9 


elected as aforesaid shall hold his office after he shall have removed 
from such district. 


Sec. 9. No person holding office under the authority of the United 
States,'or any lucrative office under the authority of this state, shall be 
eligible to, or have a seat in the Legislature, but this provision shall 
not extend to precinct or township officers, justices of the peace, no¬ 
taries public, or officers of the militia, nor shall any person interested 
in a contract with, or an unadjusted claim, against the state hold a seat 
in the Legislature. 


Sec. 10. The sesion of the Legislature shall commence at 12:00 
o’clock (noon) on the first Tuesday in January in the next year ensu¬ 
ing the election of members thereof, and at no other time, Unless as 
provided by this Constitution. A majority of the members elected to 
each House shall constitute a quorum; each House shall determine the 
rules of its proceedings and be the judge of the election, returns, and 
Qualifications of its members, shall choose its own officers, and the Sen¬ 
ate shall choose a temporary president, to preside when the Lieutenant 
Governor shall not attend as president, or shall act as Governor. The 
Secretary of State shall call the House of Representatives to order at 
the opening of each new Legislature, and preside over it until a tem¬ 
porary presiding officer thereof shall have been chosen, and shall have 
taken his seat. No member shall be expelled by either House, except 
by a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to that House, and 
no member shall be twice expelled for the same offense. Each House 
may punish by imprisonment any person not a member thereof who 
shall be guilty of disrespect to the House by disorderly or contemptuous 
behavior in its presence, but no such imprisonment shall extend beyond 
twenty-four hours at one time, unless the person shall persist in such 
disorderly or contemptuous behavior. 

Sec. 11. Each House shall keep a journal of its proceedings and 
publish them (except such parts as may require secrecy) and the yeas 
"and nays of the members on any question, shall at the desire of any tw T o 
of them be entered on the Journal. All votes in either House shall be 
viva voce. The doors of each House, and of the Committee of the 
Whole, shall be open, unless when the business shall be such as ought 
to be kept secret. Neither House shall, without the consent of the other, 
adjourn for more than three days. 


Sec. 12. Any bill may originate in either House of the Legislature, 
except bills appropriating money, which shall originate only in the House 
of Representatives, and all bills passed by one House may be amended 
by the other. 


Sec. 13. The style of all bills shall be, “Be it enacted by the people 
of the State of Nebraska,’’ and no law shall be enacted except by bill. 
No bill shall be passed by the Legislature unless by the assent of a 
majority of all member elected to each House of the Legislature, and 


10 


THE CONSTITUTION OF 


the question upon final passage shall be taken; immediately upon its 
last reading and the yeas and nays shall be entered upon the journal. 
No amendment to any bill by one House shall be concurred in by the 
other nor shall the report of any conference committee as to any bill 
be adopted by either House except by the assent of the same number of 
members as is required for tthe passage of the original bill taken by 
yeas and nays entered upon the journal. 

Sec. 14. Every bill and concurrent resolution shall be read by 
title when introduced, and a printed copy thereof provided for the use 
of each member, and the bill and all amendments thereto shall be 
printed and read at large before the vote is taken upon its final pas¬ 
sage. No bill shall contain more than one subject, and the same shall 
be clearly expressed in the title. And no law shall be amended unless 
the new act contain the section or sections as amended and the sec¬ 
tion or sections so amended shall be repealed. The presiding officer 
of each House shall sign in the presence of the House over which he pre¬ 
sides while the same is in session and capable of transacting business, 
all bills and concurrent resolutions passed by the Legislature. 

Sec. 15. Members of the Legislature in all cases except treason, 
felony or breach of the peace, shall be privileged from arrest during 
the session of the Legislature, and for fifteen days next before the com¬ 
mencement and after the* termination thereof. 

Sec. 16. No person elected or appointed to the Legislature shall 
receive any civil appointment to a state office during the term for 
which he has been elected or appointed, and all such appointments shall 
be void: nor shall any member of the Legislature, or any state officer 
be interested, either directly or indirectly in any contract, with the state 
or any county or municipality thereof, authorized by any ’aw enacted 
during the term for which he shall have been elected or appointed, 
or within one year after the expiration of such term. 

Sec. 17. The Senate and House of Representatives in joint con- 
v ention shall have the sole power of impeachment, but a majority of 
the members elected must concur therein. Upon the entertainment of 
a resolution to impeach by either House, the other House shall at once 
be notified thereof and the two Houses shall meet in joint convention 
for the purpose of acting upon such resolution within, three days of 
such notification. A notice of an impeachment of any officer other 
than a justice of the Supreme Court, shall be forthwith served upon the 
Chief Justice, by the Secretary of the Senate, who shall thereupon call 
a session of the Supreme Court to meet at the Capitol within ten day 3 
after such notice to try the impeachment. A notice of an impeach¬ 
ment of a Justice of the Supreme Court shall be served by the Secretary 
of the Senate, upon the judge.of the judicial district within which the 
Capitol is located, and he thereupon shall notify all the judges of the 
District Court in the state to meet with him within thirty days at the 


11 


m- • - ■ ■ '■ 

THE STATE OF NEBRASKA 

Capitol, to sit as a court to try sucli impeachment, which court shall 
organize by electing one of its number to preside. No person shall be 
convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds of the members of the 
court ol impeachment, but judgment in cases of impeachment shall not 
extend further than removal from office and disqualification to hold and 
enjoy any office of honor, profit, or trust, in This state, but the party 
impeached, whether convicted or acquitted shall nevertheless be liable 
to prosecution and punishment according to law. No officer shall exer 
else his official duties after he shall have been impeached and notified 
thereof, until he shall have been acquitted. 

Sec. 18. The Legislature shall not pass local or special laws in any 
of the following cases, that is to say: 

For granting divorces. 

Changing the names of persons or places. 

Laying out, opening, altering and working roads or highways. 

Vacating roads, town plats, streets, alleys, and public grounds.. 

Locating or changing county seats. 

Regulating County and Township offices. 

Regulating the practice of Courts of Justice. 

Regulating the jurisdiction and duties of Justices of the Peace, 
Police Magistrates and Constables. 

Providing for changes of venue in civil and criminal cases. 

Incorporating Cities, Towns and Villages, or changing or amend¬ 
ing the Charter of any Town, City, or Village. 

Providing for the election of officers in Townships, incorporated 
Towns or Cities. 

Summoning or empaneling Grand or Petit Juries. 

Providing for the bonding of Cities, Towns, Precincts, School Dis¬ 
tricts, or other municipalities. 

Providing for the management of Public Schools. 

Regulating the interest on money. 

The opening and conducting of any election, or designating the place 
of voting. 

The sale or mortgage of real estate belonging to minors or others 

under disability. 

.so 90/ : 

The protection of game or fish. 

Chartering or licensing ferries, or toll bridges, remitting fines, pen¬ 
alties or forfeitures, creating, increasing and decreasing fees, percent- 


, 

12 THE CONSTITUTION OF 

ages or allowances of public officers, during the term for which, said 
officers are elected or appointed. 

Changing the law of descent. 

Granting to any corporation, association, or individual, the right to 
lay down railroad tracks, or amending existing charters for such purpose. 

Granting to any corporation, association, or individual any special 
or exclusive privileges, immunity, or franchise whatever. In all other 
cases where a general law can be made applicable, no special law shall 
be enacted. 

Sec. 19. The Legislature shall never grant, any extra compensa¬ 
tion to any public officer, agent, or servant after the services have been 
rendered nor to any contractor after the contract has been entered into, 
nor shall the compensation of any public officer, including any officer 
whose compensation is fixed by the Legislature subsequent to the adop¬ 
tion hereof be increased or diminished during his term of office. 

Sec 20. The salt springs* coal, oil, mineral, or other natural re¬ 
sources on or contained in the land belonging to the state shall never 
be alienated, but provision may be made by la\y for the leasing or de¬ 
velopment of the same. 

Sec. 21. Lands under control of the state shall never be dona+ed to 
railroad companies, private corporations or Individuals. 

Sec. 22. Each Legislature shall make appropriations for the ex¬ 
penses of the Government until the expiration of the first fiscal quar¬ 
ter after the adjournment of the next regular session, and all appro¬ 
priations shall end with such fiscal quarter. And whenever it is deemed 
necessary to make further appropriations for deficiencies, the same 
shall require a two-thirds vote of all the members elected to each House, 
and shall, not exceed the amount of revenue authorized by law to be 
raised in such time. Bills making appropriations for the pay of mem¬ 
bers ar.d officers of the Legislature, and for the salaries of the officers 
of the Government, shall contain no provision on any other subject. 

Sec. 23. All offices created by this Constitution shall become va¬ 
cant by the death of the incumbent, by removal from me state, resigna¬ 
tion, conviction of a felony, impeachment, or becoming of unsound mind. 
And the Legislature shall provide by general law for the filling of such 
vacancy, when no provision is made for that purpose in this Consti¬ 
tution. 

Sec. 24. The Legislature shall not authorize any games of chance, 
lottery, or gift enterprise under any pretense, or for any purpose what¬ 


ever. 



THE STATE OP NEBRASKA 


13 


See. 25. No allowance shall be made for the Incidental expenses of 
any state officer except the same be made by general appropriation 
and upon an account specifying each item. No money shall be drawn 
from the treasury except in pursuance of a specific appropriation made 
by law, and on the presentation of a warrant issued by the auditor 
thereon, and no money shall be diverted from any appropriation made 
for any purpose, or taken from any fund whatever, either by joint or 
separate resolution. The auditor shall within sixty days alter the ad¬ 
journment of each session of the Legislature, prepare and publish a full 
statement of all moneys expended at such session, specifying the amount 
of each item, and to whom and for what paid. 

Sec. 26. No member of the Legislature shall be liable in any civil 
or criminal action whatever for words spoken in debate. 

Sec. 27. No act shall take effect until three calendar months after 
the adjournment of the session at which it passed, unless in case of 
emergency (to be expressed in the preamble or body of the act) the 
Legislature shall, by a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to 
each House otherwise direct. All laws shall be published in book form 
within sixty days after the adjournment of each session, and distributed 
among the several counties in such manner as the Legislature may pro¬ 
vide. 

Sec. 28. Senatorial and Representative Districts shall, continue as 
now existing, until otherwise provided by law. 

ARTICLE IV—EXECUTIVE. 

Section 1. The executive officers of the state shall be the gover¬ 
nor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, Auditor of Public Ac¬ 
counts, Commissioner of Public Lands and Buildings, Treasurer, Attor¬ 
ney General, Superintendent of Public Instruction and the heads of such 
other executive departments as may be established by law. The Legis¬ 
lature may provide for the placing of the above named officeis as heads 
over such departments of government as it may by law create. The 
Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, 
Auditor of Public Accounts, Commissioner of Public Lands and Build¬ 
ings and Treasurer shall be chosen at the general election held in 
November, 1922, and in each even numbered year thereafter, and their 
term. of office shall be two years and until their successors shall be 
electee and qualified. The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall 
be elected in November, 1922, and every four years thereafter, and his 
term of office shall be four years and until his successor shall be elected 
and qualified. The records, books and papers of all executive officers 
shall be Kept at. the seat of government, and such officers, excepting the 
Lieutenant Governor, shall reside there during their respective terms of 
office. Officers in the executive department of the state shall perform 
?.uch duties as may be provided by law. The heads of all executive de- 


14 


THE CONSTITUTION OF 


partments established by law, other than those to be elected as pro¬ 
vided herein, shall be appointed by the Governor, with the consent of 
a majority of all the members elected to the Senate and House of Rep¬ 
resentatives meeting in joint session, but officers so appointed may be 
removed by the Governor. Subject to the provisions of this Constitu¬ 
tion, the heads of the various executive or civil departments shall have 
power to appoint, and remove all subordinate employees in then’ re¬ 
spective departments. 

Sec. 2. No person shall be eligible to the office of Governor, or 
Lieutenant Governor, who shall not have attained the age of thirty 
years, and who shall not have been five years next preceding his elec¬ 
tion a resident and citizen of this state and a citizen of the Uniied 
States. None of the officers mentioned in this article shall be eligible 
to any other state office during the period for which they have been 
elected or appointed. 

(Sec. 3. The treasurer shall be ineligible to the office of treasurer, 
for two years next after the expiration of two consecutive terms for 
which he was elected. 

Sec. 4. The returns of every election for the officers of the executive 
department shall be sealed up and transmitted by the returning officers 
to the Secretary of State, directed to the Speaker of the House of Rep 
resentatives, who shall immediately after the organization of the House, 
and before proceeding to other business, open and publish ihe same in 
the presence of a majority of each House of the Legislature, who shall, 
for that purpose assemble in the Hall of the House of Representative's. 
The person having the highest number of votes for either of said of 
flees shall be declared duly elected; but if two or more have an equal 
and -the highest number of votes, the Legislature shall, by joint vote, 
choose one of such persons for said office. Contested elections for all 
of said offices shall be determined by both Houses of the Legislature, by 
joint vote, in such manner as may be prescribed by law. 

Sec. 5. Ail civil officers of this state shall be liablo to impeach¬ 
ment for any misdemeanor in office. 

Sec. 6. The supreme executive power shall be vested in the Gov¬ 
ernor, who shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed and the 
affairs of the state efficiently and economically administered. 

Sec. 7. The Governor shall, at the commencement of each session,- 
and at the close of his term of office and whenever the Legislature may 
require, give by message to the Legislature information of the condi¬ 
tion of the state, and, shall recommend such measures as ho shall deem 
expedient. He shall, by message, make to the Legislature an account 
and statement, with vouchers attached, of all moneys received and paid 
out by him, from any and all funds subject to his order, and, at the 



THE STATE OF NEBRASKA 


15 


commencement of each regular session shall present, by message, a 
complete itemized budget of the financial requirements of all depart¬ 
ments, institutions and agencies of the state for the ensuing biennium. 
Said budget shall be prepared with such expert assistance and under 
such regulations as may be provided by law. No appropriations shall, 
be made in excess of the recommendation contained in such budget un¬ 
less by three-fifths vote of each House of the Legislature, and such ex¬ 
cess so approved by a three-fifths vote shall not be subject to veto by 
the Governor. 

iSec. 8. The Governor may, on extraordinary occasions, convene the 
Legislature by proclamation, stating therein the purpose for which they 
are convened, and the Legislature shall enter upon no business except 
that for which they were called together. 

Sec. 9. In case of a disagreement between the two Houses with 
respect to the time of adjournment, the Governor may on the same be¬ 
ing certified to him by the House first moving the adjournment, adjourn 
the Legislature to such time as he thinks proper not beyond the first 
day of the next regular session. 

Sec. 10. The Governor shall nominate and by and with the advice 
and consent of the Senate, (expressed by a majority of all Senatois 
elected, voting by yeas and nays), appoint all officers whose offices are 
established by the Constitution, or which may be created by law, and 
whose appointment, or election is not otherwise by law or herein pro¬ 
vided for; and no such officer shall be appointed or elected by the Legis¬ 
lature. 

Sec. 11. In case of a vacancy during the recess of the Senate, in 
any office which is not elective, the Governor shall make a temporary 
appointment until the next meeting of the Senate, when he shall nomi¬ 
nate some person to fill such office; and any person so nominated, who 
is confirmed by the Senate, (a majority of all the Senators elected con-' 
curring by voting yeas and nays), shall hold his office during the re¬ 
mainder of the term, and until his successor shall be appointed and 
qualified. No person after being rejected by the Senate, shall be again 
nominated for the same office at the same session, unless at request 
cf the 'Senate, or be appointed to the same office during the recess of 
the Legislature. 

Sec. 12. The Governor shall have power to remove any officer, 
whom he mrv appoint, in case of incompetency, neglect of duty, or mal¬ 
feasance in office, and he may declare his office vacant, and fill the same 
as herein provided in other cases of vacancy. 

Sec. 13. The Governor, Attorney General, and Secretary of State 
shall constitute b board to be known as the Board of Pardons, of which 
the Governor shall be chairman. Said board, or a majority thereof, 



16 


THE CONSTITUTION OF 


shall have power to remit fines and forfeitures and to grant commu¬ 
tations, pardons and paroles after conviction and judgment, under such 
conditions as may bq prescribed by law, for any offenses committed 
against the criminal laws of this state except treason and cases of im¬ 
peachment. But no fine or forfeiture shall be remitted, and no com¬ 
mutation, pardon or parole granted except upon the approval of a ma¬ 
jority of the board after a full hearing in open session, and not until 
notice of the time and place of such hearing, and of the relief sought, 
shall have been given by personal service thereof upon the judge of the 
court by which the sentence was pronounced and the county attorney 
of the county where the offense was committed. Provided, however, the 
Governor shall have power to grant respites or reprieves in all cases of 
conviction for offenses against the laws of the state, except treason and 
cases of impeachment, but such respites or reprieves shall not extend 
beyond the next meeting of the Board of Pardons, and in no case for a 
greater period than thirty 7 days. The proceedings and decisions shall 
be reduced to writing, and with the reasons for such action in each 
case, signed by the members of the board concurring therein, and with 
all papers used upon the hearing including the dissent of any member 
who mayl not concur, shall be filed in the office of the Secretary of 
State. The governor shall communicate to the Legislature, at each 
regular session, each case of remission of fine, forfeiture, reprieve, 
commutation, pardon or parole, granted since the last previous report, 
stating the name of the convict, the crime of which he was convictted, 
the sentence and its date, and the date of remission, commutation, par¬ 
don, parole or reprieve, with the reasons for granting the same, and 
the objections,*if any, of any members of the board made thereto. The 
board shall have power to suspend the execution of the sentence im¬ 
posed for treason until the case can be reported to the Legislature at 
its next session, when the Legislature shall either grant a pardon, or 
commute the sentence or direct the execution, or grant ai further re¬ 
prieve. 

Sec. 14. The Governor shall be commander-in-chief of the military 
and naval forces of the state (except when they shall be called into the 
service of the United States) and may call out the same to execute the 
laws, suppress insurrection, and repel invasion. 

Sec. 15. Every bill passed by the Legislature, before it become? 
a law, and every order, resolution or vote to which the concurrence 
of both Houses may be necessary (except on questions of adjournment) 
shall be presented to the Governor. If he approves he shall sign it, 
and thereupon it shall become a law, but if he do not approve, he shall 
return it with his objections to the House in which it shall have origi¬ 
nated, which House shall enter the objections at large upon its journal, 
and proceed to reconsider the bill. If then three-fifths of the members 
elected agree to pass' the same, it shall be sent, together with the ob¬ 
jections, to the other house, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, 



THE STATE OF NEBRASKA 


17 


and if approved by three-fifths of the members elected to that House, 
it shall become a law notwithstanding the objections of the Governor. 
In all such cases the vote of eacli House shall be determined by yeas 
and nays, to be entered upon the journal.. Any bill which shall not be 
returned by the Governor within five days (Sundays excepted) after it 
shall have been presented to him, shall become a law in like manner as 
if he had signed it; unless the Legislature by their adjournment prevent 
its return; in which case it shall be filed, with his objections, in the of¬ 
fice of the Secretary of State within five days after such adjournment, 
or become a law. The Governor may disapprove any item or items 
of appropriation contained in bills passed by the Legislature, and the 
item or items so disapproved shall be stricken therefrom, unless re- 
passed in the manner herein prescribed in cases of disapproval of bills. 

Sec. 16. In case of the death, impeachment and notice thereof 
to the accused, failure to quality, resignation, absence from the state, 
or other disability of the Governor, the powers, duties and emoluments 
of the office for the residue of the term, or until the disability shall be re¬ 
moved, shall devolve upon the Lieutenant Governor. 

Sec. 17.. The Lieutenant Governor shall be president of the 'Sen¬ 
ate, and shall vote only when the Senate is equally divided. 

Sec. 18. If there be no Lieutenant Governor, or if the Lieutenant 
Governor for any of the causes specified in Section Sixteen of this ar¬ 
ticle, become incapable of performing the duties of the office, the Presi¬ 
dent of the Senate shall act as Governor until the vacancy is filled, or 
the disability removed; and if the president of the Senate, for any of the 
above named causes, shall become incapable of performing the duties 
of Governor, the same shall devolve upon the Speaker of the House of 
Representatives. 

Sec. 19. There shall be a “Board of Control” of state institutions 
consisting of three members who shall be appointed by the Governor 
by and with the consent of two-thirds of the members of the Senate. 
Not more than two of the members of said board shall belong to the same 
political party and no two of them shall reside in the same Congres¬ 
sional District when appointed. They shall b^ appointed for a term 
of six years, except to fill vacancy which shall be for the unexpirod 
term. The present members shall hold office until their successors 
are appointed, and one member shall be appointed in the month 
of January, 1921, and one every two years thereafter. The Board of 
Control shall have full power to manage, control and govern, subject 
only to such limitations as may be established by law, all state chari¬ 
table, reformatory and penal institutions that now are or may hereafter 
be established. They shall give such bonds, receive such salaries and 
perform such duties a may be provided by law. 

Sec. 20. There shall be a State Railway Commission, consisting of 
three members, who shall be first elected at the general elecHon in 1906, 


18 


THE CONSTITUTION OF 


whose terms of office, except those chosen at the first election under 
this provision, shall be six years, and whose compensation shall be fixed 
by the Legislature. Of the three commissioners first elected, the one 
receiving the highest number of votes, shall hold his office for six years, 
the next highest four years, and the lowest two years. The powers 
and duties of such commission shall include the regulation of rates, 
service and general control of common carriers as the Legislature may 
provide by law. But, in the absence of specific legislation, the com¬ 
mission shall exercise the powers and perform the duties enumerated in 
this provision. 

Sec. 21. If the office of Auditor of Public Accounts, Treasurer, Sec¬ 
retary of State, Attorney General, Commissioner of Public Lands and 
Buildings, or Superintendent of Public Instruction, shall be vacated by 
death, resignation or otherwise, it shall be the duty of the Governor 
to fill the same by appointment, and the appointee shall hold his office 
until his successor shall be elected and qualified in such manner as 
may be provided by law. 

Sec. 22. An account shall be kept by the officers of the executive 
department and of all the public institutions of the state, of all moneys 
received or disbursed by them severally from all sources, and for every 
service performed, and a semi-annual report thereof be made to the 
Governor under oath; and any officer who makes a false report shall be 
guilty of perjury and punished accordingly. 

Sec. 23. The officers- of the executive department and of all the pub¬ 
lic institutions of the state shall at least ten days preceding each regu¬ 
lar session of the Legislature severally report to the Governor, who shall 
transmit such reports to the Legislature, together with the reports of 
the judges of the Supreme Court of defects in the Constitution and laws, 
and the Governor or either House of the Legislature may at any time 
require information in writing, under oath, from the officers of the 
executive department, and all officers, managers of state institutions, 
upon any subject relating to the condition, management and expenses of 
their respective offices. 

Sec. 24. There shall be a seal of the state, which shall be called 
the “Great iSeal of the State of Nebraska,” which shall be kept by the 
Secretary of State and used by him officially as directed by law. 

Sec. 25. The officers provided for in this article shall receive such 
salaries as may be provided by law, but the salary of no officer shall ba 
changed more than once in eight years. Such officers or such other 
officers as may be provided for by law, shall not receive for their own 
use any fees, costs, or,interest upon public moneys in their hands. All 
fees that may hereafter be payable by law for services performed, or 
received by an officer provided for in this article, by virtue of his office 
shall be paid forthwith into the state treasury. 


THE STATE OF NEBRASKA 


12 


Sec. 26. The officers mentioned in this article shall give bond in 
not less than double the amount of money that may come into their 
hands, and in no case less than the sum of fifty thousand dollars, with 
such provisions as, to sureties and the approval thereof, and for the 
increase of the penalty of such bonds, as may be prescribed by law. 

Sec. 27. No executive state office other than herein provided shall 
be created except by a two-thirds majority of all members elected to 
the Senate and House of Representatives respectively. 

Sec. 28. A Tax Commissioner shall be appointed by the Governor 
with the advice and consent of the Senate. He shall have jurisdiction 
over the administration of the revenue laws of the state, and together 
with the Governor, Secretary of State, State Auditor and State Treas¬ 
urer shall have power to review and equalize assessments of property 
for taxation within the state. He shall have such other powers and 
perform such other duties as the Legislature may provide. His term of 
office and compensation shall be as provided by law. 

ARTICLE V—JUDICIAL. 

Sec. 1. The judicial power of the state shall be vested in a supreme 
court, district courts, county courts, justices of the peace, and such other 
courts inferior to the supreme court as may ‘be created by law; but other 
courts may be substituted by law for justices of the peace within such 
districts, and with such additional civil and criminal jurisdiction, as may 
be provided by law. 

Sec. 2. The supreme court shall consist of seven judges, one of 
whom shall be the Chief Justice. A majority of the judges shall be 
necessary to constitute a quorum. A majority of the members sitting 
shall have authority to pronounce a decision except in cases involving 
the constitutionality of an act of the Legislature. No legislative act. 
shall be held unconstitutional except by the concurrence of five judges. 
The supreme court shall have jurisdiction in all cases relating to the 
revenue, civil cases in which the state is a party, mandamus, quo war¬ 
ranto, habeas corpus, and such appellate jurisdiction as may be provided 
by law. Whenever necessary for the prompt submission and determina¬ 
tion of causes, the supreme court may appoint judges of the district 
court to act as associate judges of the supreme court, sufficient in num¬ 
ber, with the judges of the supreme court, to constitute two divisions 
of the court of five judges in each division. Whenever judges of the 
district court are so acting the court shall sit in two divisions, and four 
of the judges thereof shall be necessary to constitute a quorum. Judges 
of the district court so appointed shall serve during the pleasure of the 
court, and shall have all the powers of judges of the supreme court. 
The Chief Justice shall make assignments of judges to the divisions of 
the court, and shall preside over the division of which he is a member, 


2© 


THE CONSTITUTION OF 


and designate the presiding judge of the other division. The judges of 
the supreme court, sitting without division, shall hear and determine all 
cases involving the constitutionality of a statute, and all appeals from 
convictions of homicide; and may review any decision rendered by a 
division of the court. In such cases, in the event of the disability or 
disqualification by interest or otherwise, of any of the judges of the 
supreme court, the court may appoint judges of the district court to sit 
temporarily as judges of the supreme court, sufficient to constitute a full 
court of seven judges. Judges of the district court shall receive no ad¬ 
ditional salary by virtue of their appointment and service as herein 
provided; but they shall be reimbursed their necessary traveling and 
hotel expenses. 

Sec. 3. At least two terms of the supreme court shall be held each 
year, at the seat of government. 

Sec. 4. The Chief Justice of the supreme court shall be elected by 
the electors of the state at large. The judges of the supreme court, 
other than the Chief Justice, shall be elected by the electors of the dis¬ 
tricts as herein provided. The term of office of judges of the supreme 
court shall be six years during which they shall reside at the place 
where the court is holden; but no judge of the supreme court now in 
office or hereafter shall be deemed thereby to have lost his residence 
at the place from which he was elected. 

Sec. 5. The Legislature shall divide the state along county lines into 
six compact districts, of approximately equal population, which shall be 
numbered from one to six, consecutive numbers to be given Adjacent 
districts. Such districts shall correspond, as nearly as may be prac¬ 
ticable, in location anu numbers with the present six Congressional Dis¬ 
tricts of the state. Such districts shall not be changed except upon the 
concurrence of two-thirds of the members of each house of the Legisla¬ 
ture, nor shall any such change vacate the office of any judge. Until 
such districts are established, the six Congressional Districts of the 
state as now constituted and numbered shall be the supreme court judi¬ 
cial districts. 

A chief justice shall be elected in the year 1920 and each six years 
thereafter; in the year 1922, and each six years thereafter, there shall 
be elected by the electors of each of the three even numbered districts 
one judge of the supreme court; and the judges so elected shall be the 
successors of the judges whose terms of office expire in January, 1923; 
in the year 1924, and each six years thereafter, there shall be elected by 
the electors of each of the three odd numbered districts one judge of 
the supreme court, and the judges so elected shall be the successors 
of the judges whose terms of office expire in January, 1925. 

Sec .6. The chief justice shall preside at all terms and sittings of 
the supreme court, and in his absence or disability the judges present 
shall select one of their number chief justice pro tempore. 



THE STATE OF NEBRASKA 


21 


Sec. 7. No person shall be eligible to the office of chief justice or 
judge of the supreme court unless he shall be at least thirty years or 
age, and a citizen of the United States, and shall have resided in this 
state at least three years next preceding his election; nor, in the case 
of a judge of the supreme court elected from a supreme court judicial 
district, unless he shall be a resident and elector of the district from 
which elected. 

Sec. 8. There shall be appointed by the supreme court, a clerk and 
a reporter of the court, each of whom shall hold his office for a term of 
six years, unless sooner removed by the court, and their salaries shall be 
fixed by law; the clerk shall also act as librarian of the law and miscel¬ 
laneous library of the state. 

The court shall also appoint such clerical help as may be reeded for 
the proper dispatch of the business of the court. The court shall pre¬ 
pare and recommend to each session of the Legislature a budget of the 
estimated expenses of the court for the ensuing biennium. The copy¬ 
right of the state reports shall forever remain the property of the state. 

Sec. 9. The district court shall have both chancery and common 
law jurisdiction, and such other jurisdiction as the Legislature may pro¬ 
vide; and the judges thereof may admit persons charged with felony to 
a plea of guilty and pass such sentence as may be prescribed by law. 

Sec. 10. The state shall be divided into district court judicial dis¬ 
tricts. Until otherwise provided by law, the boundaries of the judicial 
districts and the number of judges of the district courts shall remain as 
now fixed. The judges of the district courts shall be elected by the 
electors of the respective districts, and their term of office shall be four 
years. 

' Sec. 11. The concurrence of two-thirds of the members elected to 
each House of the Legislature shall be required to change the number 
of judges of the district courts, or to alter the boundaries of judicial dis¬ 
tricts. Such change in number or alterations in boundaries shall not 
vacate the office of any judge. Such districts shall be formed of com¬ 
pact territory bounded by county lines. 

Sec. 12. The judges of the district court may hold court for each 
other and shall do so when required by law or when ordered by the 
supreme court. 

Sec. 13. The chief justice, the judges of the supreme court and 
llie judges of the district court shall receive such salaries as may be 
provided by law. 

Sec. 14. No judge of the supreme or district courts shall act as 
attorney or counsellor at law in any manner whatsoever. No county 
judge shall practice law in any court in any matter arising in or grow¬ 
ing out of any proceedings in his own court. 


22 


THE CONSTITUTION OF 


Sec. 15. In the year 1920 and every four years thereafter there shall 
be elected in and for each county one judge, who shall be judge of the 
county court of such county, whose term of office shall be four years 
and whose salary shall be fixed by law. 

Sec. 16. County courts shall be courts of record, and shall have 
original jurisdiction in all matters of probate, settlement of estates of 
deceased persons, and in such proceedings to find and determine heir¬ 
ship; appointment of guardians, and settlement of their accounts; and 
such other jurisdiction as may be given by general law. But they shall 
not have jurisdiction in criminal cases in which the punishment may 
exceed six months imprisonment or a fine of over five hundred dollars, 
or both; nor in civil actions in which title to real estate is sought or 
drawn in question; nor in actions on mortgages or contracts for the con¬ 
veyance of real estate; nor in civil actions where the debt or sum 

claimed shall exceed one thousand dollars. 

• 

Sec. 17. Appeals to the district court from the judgments of county 
courts shall be allowed in all criminal cases, on application of the de¬ 
fendant; and in all civil cases, on application of either party, and in 
such other cases as may be provided by law. 

Sec. 18. Justices of the peace shall be elected in and for such dis¬ 
tricts for such term and have and exercise such jurisdiction ns may be 
provided by law; but no justice of the peace shall have jurisdiction in 
any civil case where the amount in controversy shall exceed two hundred 
dollars; nor in a criminal case where the punishment may exceed three 
months imprisonment, and a fine of over one hundred dollars or both; 
nor in any matter wherein the title or boundaries of land may be in dis¬ 
pute. 


Sec. 19. The organization, jurisdiction, powers, proceedings, and 
practice of all courts of the same class or grade, so far as regulated by 
law and the force and effect of the proceedings, judgments and decrees 
of such courts, severally, shall be uniform. 

Sec. 20. All officers provided for in this article shall hold their 
offices until their successors shall be qualified and they shall respec¬ 
tively reside in the district, county or precinct from which they shall be 
elected or appointed. All officers, when not otherwise provided for in 
this article, shall perform such duties and receive such compensation 
as may be prescribed by law. 

Sec. 21. In case the office of any judge of the supreme court or 
any district court shall become vacant before the expiration of the reg¬ 
ular term for which he was elected, the vacancy shall be filled by ap¬ 
pointment by the Governor, for the unexpired term, and until a suc¬ 
cessor shall be elected and qualified. 

\ acancies in all other elective offices shall be filled by election, but 


THE STATE OP NEBRASKA 


2;’ 

when the unexpired term does not exceed two years the vacancy may be 
filled by appointment in such manner as the Legislature may provide. 

Sec. 22. The state may sue and be sued, and the Legislature shall 
provide by law in what manner and in what courts suits shall be 
brought. 

Sec. 23. The several judges of the courts of record shall have such 
jurisdiction at chambers as may be provided by law. 

Sec. 24. All process shall run in the name of “The State of Ne¬ 
braska,” and all prosecutions shall be carried on in the name of “The 
State of Nebraska.” 

Sec. 25. For the effectual administration of justice and the prompt 
disposition of judicial proceedings, the supreme court may promulgate 
rules of practice and procedure for all courts, uniform as to each class 
of courts, and not in conflict with laws governing such matters. To the 
same end, the court may, and when requested by the Legislature by joint 
resolution, shall certify to the Legislature, its conclusions as to desirable 
amendments or changes in the general laws governing such practice and 
proceedings. 

Sec. 26. If the foregoing amendment shall be adopted by the elec¬ 
tors, all existing courts which are not in the foregoing amendment 
specifically enumerated and concerning which no other prevision is 
herein made, shall continue in existence and exercise their present juris¬ 
diction, and the judges thereof shall receive their present compensation, 
until otherwise provided by law; and such judges, or appointees to fill 
vacancies shall hold their offices until their successors shall be elected 
and qualified. 


ARTICLE VI—SUFFRAGE. 

Sec. 1. Every citizen of the United States, who has attained the age 
of twenty-one years, and has resided within the state for six months and 
within the county and voting precinct for the terms provided by law, 
shall be an elector. 

Sec. 2. No person shall be qualified to vote who is non compos 
mentis, or who has been convicted of treason or felony under ihe laws 
of the state or of the United States, unless restored to civil rights. 

Sec. 3. Every elector in the military or naval service of the United 
States or of this state may exercise the right of suffrage at such place 
and under such regulations as may be provided by law. 

Sec. 4. No soldier, seaman, or marine in the army and navy of the 
United States shall be deemed a resident of the state in consequence of 
being stationed therein. 



24 


THE CONSTITUTION OF 


Sec. 5. Electors shall be in all cases, except treason, felony, or 
breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance at 
elections, and going to and returning from the same, and no elector 
shall be obliged to do military duty on the days of election, except in 
time of war and public danger. 

Sec. 6. All votes shall be by ballot. 

ARTICLE VII—EDUCATION. 

Sec. 1. The Governor, Secretary of State, Treasurer, Attorney Gen¬ 
eral, and Commissioner of Public Lands and Buildings shall, under the 
direction of the Legislature, constitute a board of commissioners, for the 
sale, leasing, and general management of all lands and funds set apart 
for educational purposes, and for the investment of school funds, in such 
manner as may be prescribed by law. 

Sec. 2. All lands, money or other property granted, or bequeathed, 
or in any manner conveyed to this state for educational purposes shall 
be used and expended in accordance with the terms of such grant, be¬ 
quest, or conveyance. 

Sec. 3. The following are hereby declared to be perpetual funds for 
common school purposes of which the annual interest or income only can 
be appropriated, to-wit: 

First. Such per centum as has been, or may hereafter be. granted 
by Congress on the sale of lands in this state. 

Second. All moneys arising from the sale or leasing c-f sections 
number sixteen and thirty-six in each township in this state, and the 
lands selected, or that may be selected, in lieu thereof. 

Third. The proceeds of all lands that have been, or may hereafter 
be, granted to this state, where by the terms and conditions of such 
grant the same are not to be otherwise appropriated. 

Fourth. The net proceeds of lands and other property and effects 
that may come to this state, by escheat or forfeiture, or from unclaimed 
dividends, or distributive shares of the estates of deceased persons. 

Fifth. All moneys, stocks, bonds, lands, and other property, now be¬ 
longing to the common school fund. 

Sec. 4. All other grants, gifts and devises, that have been, or may 
hereafter be, made to this state, and not otherwise appropriated by the 
terms of the grant, gift, or devise, the interest arising from all the funds 
mentioned in the preceding section, together with all the rents of the 
unsold school lands, and such other means as the Legislature may pro¬ 
vide, shall be exclusively applied to the support and maintenance of 
common schools in each school district in the state. 


THE STATE OF NEBRASKA 


25 


Sec. 5. All fines, penalties, and license moneys, arising under the 
general laws of the state, shall belong and be paid over to the counties 
respectively, where the same may he levied or imposed, and all fines, 
penalties and license moneys arising under the rules, by-laws, or ordi¬ 
nances of cities, villages, towns, precincts, or other municipal subdivision 
less than a county, shall belong and be paid over to the same respec¬ 
tively. All such fines, penalties, and license moneys shall be appro¬ 
priated exclusively to the use and support of the common schools in 
the respective subdivisions where the same may accrue. 

Sec. 6. The Legislature shall provide for the frie instruction in 
the common schools of this state of all persons between the ages of five 
and twenty-one years. 

Sec. 7. Provision shall be made by general law for equitable dis¬ 
tribution of the income of the fund set apart for the support ©f the com¬ 
mon schools among the several school districts of the state and no ap¬ 
propriation shall be made from said fund to any district for the year 

i 

in vrhich school is not maintained for the minimum term required by 

law. 


Sec. 8. No lands now owned or hereafter acquired by the state for 
educational purposes shall be sold except at public auction under such 
conditions as the Legislature shaR provide. 

Sec. 9. All funds belonging to the state for educational purposes, 
the interest and income whereof only are to be used, shall be deemed 
trust funds held by the state, and the state shall supply all losses 
thereof, that may in any manner accrue, so that the same shall remain 
forever inviolate and undiminished; and shall not be invested or loaned 
except on United States or state securities; or registered county bonds 
of this state, or registered school district bonds of this state; and such 
other securities as the Legislature may from time to time direct. And 
such funds with the interest and income thereof, are hereby solemnly 
pledged to the purposes for which they are granted and set apart, and 
shall not be transferred to any other fund for other uses. 

Sec. 10. The general government of the University of Nebraska 
shall, under the direction of the Legislature, be vested in a board of six 
regents to be styled The Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska, 
who shall be elected from and by districts as herein provided. Their 
term of office shall be for six years each. Their duties and powers shall 
be prescribed by law; and they shall receive no compensation, but may 
be reimbursed their actual expenses incurred in the discharge of their 
duties. 

The Legislature shall divide the state, along county lines, into six 
compact regent districts of approximately equal population, which shall 
be numbered from one to six, consecutive numbers to be given adjacent 


26 


THE CONSTITUTION OF 


districts. Such districts shall correspond, as nearly as may be prac¬ 
ticable, in location and numbers with the present six Congressional Dis¬ 
tricts of the state. Such districts shall not be changed except upon the 
concurrence of two-thirds of the members of e&fch House of tho .Legisla¬ 
ture, nor shall any such change vacate the office of any regent. Until 
such districts are established, the six Congressional Districts of the state 
as now constituted and numbered shall be the districts provided for by 
this section. 

Provided, that the regents elected before the adoption of this Con¬ 
stitution shall serve out their respective terms and that the successors 
of those whose terms expire in January, 1923, shall be elected from dis¬ 
tricts numbered three and four respectively at the general election to 
be held in 1922; of those whose terms expire in 1925, from districts num¬ 
bered one and two, at the general election to be held in 1924; and of 
those whose terms expire in 1927, from districts numbered five and six, 
at the general election to be held in 1926. 

Sec. 11. No sectarian instruction shall be allowed in any school or 
institution supported in whole or in part by the public funds set apart 
for educational purposes, nor shall the state accept any grant, convey¬ 
ance, or bequest of money, lands or other property to be used for sec¬ 
tarian purposes. Neither the State Legislature nor any county, city or 
other public corporation, shall ever make any appropriation from any 
public fund, or grant any public land in aid of any sectarian or denom¬ 
inational school or college, or any educational institution which is not. 
exclusively owned and controlled by the state or a governmental sub¬ 
division thereof. No religious test or qualification shall be '.required of 
teacher or student, for admission to or continuance in any public school 
or educational institution supported in whole or in part by public taxa¬ 
tion. 

Sec. 12. The Legislature may provide by law for the establish¬ 
ment of a school or schools for the safe keeping, education, employment 
and reformation of all children under the age of eighteen years, who, for 
want of proper parental care, or other cause, are growing up in mendi¬ 
cancy or crime. 

Sec. 13. The general government of the state normal schools, as 
now existing, and such other normal schools as may be established by 
law, shall be vested, under the direction of the Legislature, in a board 
of seven members to be styled Board of Education of State Normal 
Schools, six of whom shall be appointed by the Governor, with the advke 
and consent of the Senate, two each for a term of two, four, and six 
years, and two each biennium thereafter for a term of six years, and the 
State Superintendent of Public Instruction shall be a member ex-officlo. 
The duties and powers of said board shall be prescribed by law, and the 
members thereof shall receive no compensation for the performance of 



THE STATE OF NEBRASKA 


07 

& i 


their duties, but may be reimbursed their actual expenses incurred 
therein. 

ARTICLE VIII—REVENUE. 

Sec. 1. The necessary revenue of the state and its governmental 
subdivisions shall be raised by taxation in such manner as the Legisla¬ 
ture may direct; but taxes shall be levied by valuation uniformly ana 
proportionately upon all tangible property and franchises, and taxes uni¬ 
form as to class may be levied by valuation upon all other property. 
Taxes, other than property taxes, may be authorized by law. Existing 
revenue laws shall continue in effect until changed by th’e Legislature. 

Sec. 2. The property of the state and its governmental subdivisions 
shall be exempt from taxation. The Legislature by general law may 
exempt property owned by and used exclusively for agricultural and 
horticultural societies, and property owned and used exclusively for edu¬ 
cational, religious, charitable or cemetery purposes, when such property 
is not owned or used for financial gain or profit to either the owner or 
user. Household goods of the value of two hundred ($200.00) dollars 
to each family shall be exempt from taxation. The Legislature by gen¬ 
eral law may provide that the increased value of land by reason of shade 
and ornamental trees planted along the highway shall not be taken into 
account in the assessment of such land. No property shall be exempt 
from taxation except as provided in this section. 

Sec. 3. The right of redemption from all sales of real estate for the 
non-payment of taxes or special assessments of any character whatever, 
shall exist in favor of owners and persons interested in such real estate, 
for a period of not less than two years from such sales thereof. Pro¬ 
vided, that occupants shall, in all cases, be served with persoml notice 
before the time of redemption expirevS. 

Sec. 4. The Legislature shall have no power to release or discharge 
any county, city, township, town or district whatever, or the inhabitants 
thereof, or any corporation, or the property therein, from their or its 
proportionate share of taxes to be levied for state purposes, or due any 
municipal corporation, nor shall commutation for such taxes be author¬ 
ized in any form whatever. 

Sec. 5. County authorities shall never assess taxes the aggregate 
of which shall exceed fifty cents per one hundred dollars actual valua¬ 
tion as determined by the assessment rolls, except for the payment of 
indebtedness existing at the adoption hereof, unless authorized by a 
vote of the people of the county. 

Sec. 6. The Legislature may vest the corporate authorities of cities, 
towns and villages, with power to make local improvements by special 
assessments, or by special taxation of property, benefited. For all other 
corporate purposes, all municipal corporations may be. nested with au- 


28 


THE CONSTITUTION OF 


tliority to assess and collect taxes, but such taxes shall be uniform in 
respect to persons and property within the jurisdiction of the body im¬ 
posing the same. 

Sec. 7. Private property shall not be liable to be taken or sold for 
the payment of the corporate debts of municipal corporations. The Leg¬ 
islature shall not impose taxes upon municipal corporations, or the in¬ 
habitants or property thereof, for corporate purposes. 

Sec. 8. The Legislature at its first session shall provide by law for 
the funding of all outstanding -warrants, and other indebtedness of the 
state, at a rate of interest not exceeding eight per cent per annum. 

Sec. 9. The Legislature shall provide by law that all claims upon 
the treasury, shall be examined and adjusted by the auditor and ap¬ 
proved by the secretary of state, before any warrant for the amount al¬ 
lowed shall be drawn. Provided, that a party aggrieved by the decision 
of the auditor and secretary of state may appeal to the district court. 

ARTICLE IX—COUNTIES. 

Sec. 1. No new county shall be formed or established by the Legis¬ 
lature which will reduce the county or counties, or either of them, to a 
less area than four hundred square miles, nor shall any county be 
formed of a less area. 

Sec. 2. No county shall be divided nor any part of the territory of 
any county be stricken therefrom, nor shall any county or part of the 
territory of any county be added to an adjoining county without submit¬ 
ting the question to the qualified electors of each county affected thereby, 
nor unless approved by a majority of the qualified electors of each 
county voting thereon; provided, that when county boundaries divide 
sections, or overlap, or fail to meet, or are in doubt, the Legislature 
may by law provide for their adjustment, but in all cases the new 
boundary shall follow the nearest section line or the thread of the main 
channel of a boundary stream. 

Sec. 3. When a county shall be added to another, all prior in¬ 
debtedness of each county shall remain a charge on the taxable prop¬ 
erty within the territory of each county as it existed prior to consoli¬ 
dation. When any part of a county is stricken off and attached to an¬ 
other county the part stricken off shall be holden for its proportion of 
all then existing liabilities of the county from which it is taken, but 
shall not be holden for any then existing liabilities of the county to 
which it is attached. 

ogc. 4. The Legislature shall provide by law for the election of 
such county and township officers as may be necessary. 

Sec. 5. The Legislature shall provide by general law for township 


THE STATE OF NEBRASKA 


23 


organization, under which any county may organize whenever a majority 
of the legal voters of such county voting at any general election shall so 
determine; and in any county that shall have adopted a townsh : p organi¬ 
zation the question of continuing the same may be submitted ro a vote 
of the electors of such county at a general election in the manner that 
shall be p-rovided by law. 

ARTICLE X—PUBLIC SERVICE CORPORATIONS. 

Sec. 1. Every public utility corporation or common carrier organ¬ 
ized or doing business in this state shall report, under oath, to the Rail¬ 
way Commission, when required by law or the order of said Commission. 
The reports so made shall include such matter as may be required by 
law or the order of said Commission. 

Sec. 2. The rolling stock and all other movable property belonging 
to any railroad company or corporation in this state shall be liable to 
execution and sale in the same manner as the personal property of indi¬ 
viduals, and the Legislature shall pass no law exempting any such prop¬ 
erty from execution and sale. 

Sec. 3. No public utility corporation or common carrier shall con¬ 
solidate its stock, property, franchise, or earnings in whole or in part with 
any other public utility corporation or common carrier owning a parallel 
or competing property without permission of the Railway Commission; 
and in no case shall any consolidation take place except upon public 
notice of at least sixty days to all stockholders, in such manner as may 
be provided by law. The Legislature may by law require all public 
utilities and common carriers to exchange business through physical con¬ 
nection, joint use, connected service, or otherwise. 

Sec. 4. Railways heretofore constructed, or that may hereafter be 
constructed, in this state, are hereby declared public highways, and 
shall be free to all p'ersons for the transportation of their persons and 
property thereon, under such regulations as may be prescribed by law. 
And the Legislature may from time to time pass laws establishing rea¬ 
sonable maximum rates of charges for the transportation of passengers 
and freight on the different railroads in this state. The liability of rail¬ 
road corporations as common carriers shall never be limited. 

Sec. 5. The capital stock of public utility corporations or common 
carriers shall not be increased for any purpose, except after public 
notice for sixty days, and in such manner as may be provided by law. 
No dividend shall be declared or distributed except out of net earnings 
after paying all operating expenses, including a depreciation reserve suf¬ 
ficient to keep the investment intact. 

Sec. 6. The exercise of the power and the right of eminent domain 
shall never be so construed or abridged as to prevent the taking by the 


30 


THE CONSTITUTION OF 


Legislature of the property and franchises of incorporated companies 
already organized, or hereafter to be organized, and subjecting them to 
the public necessity the same as of individuals. 

Sec. 7. The Legislature shall pass laws to correct abuses and pre¬ 
vent unjust discrimination and extortion in all charges of express, tele¬ 
graph and railroad companies in this state and enforce such laws by 
adequate penalties to the extent, if necessary for that purpose, of for¬ 
feiture of their property and franchises. 

Sec. 8. No railroad corporation organized under the laws of any 
other state, or of the United States and doing business in this state 
shall be entitled to exercise the right of eminent domain or have power 
to acquire the right-of-way, or real estate for depot or other uses, until 
it shall have become a body corporate pursuant to and in accordance 
with the laws of this state. 

ARTICLE XI—MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS. 

Sec. 1. No city, county, town, precinct, municipality, or other sub¬ 
division of the state, shall ever become a subscriber to the capital stock, 
or owner of such stock, or any portion or interest therein of any rail¬ 
road, or private corporation, or association. 

Sec. 2. Any city having a population of more than five thousand 
(5,000) inhabitants may frame a charter for its own government, con¬ 
sistent with and subject to the constitution and laws of this state, by 
causing a convention of fifteen freeholders, who shall have been for at 
least five years qualified electors thereof, to be elected by the qualified 
voters of said city at any general or special election, whose duty it 
shall be within four months after such election, to prepare and propose 
a charter for such city, which charter, when completed, with a prefatory 
synopsis, shall be signed by the officers and members of the convention, 
or a majority thereof, and delivered to the clerk of said city, who shall 
publish the same in full, with his official certification, in the official 
paper of said city, if there be one, and if there be no official paper, then 
in at least one newspaper published and in general circulation in said 
city, three times, and a week apart, and within not less than thirty days 
after such publication it shall be submitted to the qualified electors of 
said city at a general or special election, and if a majority of such quali¬ 
fied voters, voting thereon, shall ratify the same, it shall at the end of 
sixty days thereafter become the charter of said city, and supersede any 
existing charter and all amendments thereof. A duplicate certificate 
shall be made, setting forth the charter proposed and its ratification (to¬ 
gether with the vote for and against) and duly certified ny the city 
clerk, and authenticathed by the corporate seal of said city and one copy 
thereof shall be filed with the Secretary of State and the other deposited 
among the archives of the city, and shall thereupon become and be 
the charter of said city, and all amendments of such charter, shall be 


THE STATE OF NEBRASKA 


:u 


authenticated in the same manner, and filed with the secretary of state 
and deposited in the archives of the city. 

Sec. 3. But if said charter be rejected, then within six months 
thereafter, the mayor and council or governing authorities of said city 
may call a special election at which fifteen members of a new charter 
convention shall be elected to be called and held as above in such city, 
and they shall proceed as above to frame a charter which shall in like 
manner and to the like end be published and submitted to a vote of said 
voters for their approval or rejection. If again rejected, the procedure 
herein designated may be repeated until a charter is finally approved by 
a majority of those voting thereon, and certified (together with the vote 
for and against) to the secretary of state as aforesaid, and a copy thereof 
deposited in the archives of the city, whereupon it shall become the 
charter of said city. Members of each of said charter conventions shall 
be elected at large; and they shall complete their labors within sixty 
days after their respective election. The charter shall make proper 
provision for continuing, amending or repealing the ordinances of the 
city. 

Sec. 4. Such charter so ratified and adopted may be amended, or a 
charter convention called, by a proposal therefor made by the law-mak¬ 
ing body of such city or by the qualified electors in number not less 
than five per cent of the next preceding gubernatorial vote in such city, 
by petition filed with the council or governing authorities. The council 
or governing authorities shall submit the same to a vote of the qualified 
electors at the next general or special election not held within thirty 
days, after such petition is filed. In submitting any such charter or 
charter amendments, any alternative article or section may be presented 
for the choice of the voters and may be voted on separately without 
prejudice to others. Whenever the question of a charter convention is 
carried by a majority of those voting thereon, a charter convention shall 
be called through a special election ordinance, and the same shall be 
constituted and held and the proposed charter submitted to a vote of tiie 
qualified electors, approved or rejected, as provided in Section 2 hereof. 
The city clerk of said city shall publish with his official certification, for 
three times, a week apart in the official paper of said city, if there be 
one, and if there be no official paper, then in at least one newspaper 
published and in general circulation in said city, the full text of any 
charter or charter amendment to be voted on at any general or special 
election. 

No charter or charter amendment adopted under the provisions* of 
this amendment shall be amended or repealed except by electoral vote. 
And no such charter or charter amendment shall diminish the tax rate 
for state purposes fixed by act of the Legislature, or interfere in any 
wise with the collection of state taxes. 

Sec. 5. The charter of any city having a population of more than 


32 


THE CONSTITUTION OF 


one hundred thousand inhabitants may be adopted as the home rule 
charter of such city by a majority vote of the qualified electors of such 
city voting upon the question, and when so adopted may thereafter be 
changed or amended as provided in Section 4 of this article, subject to 
the constitution and laws of the state. 

ARTICLE XII—MISCELLANEOUS CORPORATIONS. 

Sec. 1. The Legislature shall provide by general law for the organi¬ 
zation, regulation, supervision and general control of all corporations, 
and for the organization, supervision and general control of mutual and 
co-operative companies and associations, and by such legislation shall 
insure the mutuality and co-operative features and functions thereof. 
Foreign corporations transacting or seeking to transact business in this 
state shall be subject, under general law, to regulation, supervision and 
general control, and shall not be given greater rights or privileges than 
are given domestic corporations of a similar charaeter. No corporations 
shall be created by special law, nor their charters be extended, changed 
or amended, except those corporations organized for charitable, educa¬ 
tional, penal or reformatory purposes, w r hich are to be and remain under 
the patronage and control of the state. All general laws passed pursuant 
to this section may be altered from time to time, or repealed. 

Sec. 2. No such general law shall be passed by the Legislature 
granting the right to construct and operate a street railroad within any 
city, town, or incorporated village without first requiring the consent of 
a majority of the electors thereof. 

iSec. 3. All corporations may sue and be sued in like cases as natural 
persons. 

Sec. 4. In all cases of claims against corporations and joint stock as¬ 
sociations, the exact amount justly due shall be first ascertained, and 
after the corporate property shall have been exhausted the original 
subscribers thereof shall be individually liable to the extent of their un¬ 
paid subscription, and the liability for the unpaid subscription shall fol¬ 
low the stock. 

Sec. 5. The Legislature shall provide by law that in all elections 
for directors or managers of incorporated companies every stockholder 
shall have the right to vote in person or proxy for the number of shares 
owned by him, for as many persons as there are directors or managers 
t© be elected or to cumulate said shares and give one candidate many 
vot r .s as the number of directors multiplied by the number of his shares 
shall equal, or t© distribute them upon the same principle among as 
many candidates as he shall think fit, and such directors or managers' 
shall not be elected in any other manner; except that any mutual or co¬ 
operative company or association may, in its articles of incorporation, 
limit the number of shares of stock any stockholder may own, the 


THE STATE OF NEBRASKA 


33 


i 

transfer of said stock, and the right of each stockholder or member to 
one vote only in the meetings of such company or association. 

Sec. 6. No corporation shall be permitted to issue stock or bonds 
except for an equivalent in money paid or labor done, or property act¬ 
ually received and applied to the purpose for which such corporation 
was created, and neither labor nor property shall be received in pay¬ 
ment of stock or bonds at a greater value than the actual vaiue at the 
time said labor was done or property delivered, and all fictitious increase 
of stock or indebtedness shall be void; all stock shall have a face par 
value; and all stock in the same corporation shall be of equal par value. 

Sec. 7. Every stockholder in a banking corporation or institution 
shall be individually responsible and liable to its creditors over and 
above the amount of stock by him held to an amount equal to his re¬ 
spective stock or shares so held, for all its liabilities accruing while he 
remains such stockholder, and all banking corporations shall publish 
quarterly statements under oath of their assets and liabilities. 

ARTICLE XIII—STATE, COUNTY AND MUNICIPAL INDEBTEDNESS. 

Sec. 1. The state may, to meet casual deficits, or failures in the 
revenues, contract debts never to exceed in the aggregate one hundred 
thousand dollars, and no greater indebtedness shall be incurred except for 
the purpose of repelling invasion, suppressing insurrection, or defending 
the state in war, and provision shall be made for the payment of the in- 
terest annually, as it shall accrue, by a tax levied for the purpose, or from 
other sources of revenue, which law providing for the payment of such 
interest by such tax shall be irrepealable until such debt be paid. 

Sec. 2. No city, county, town, precinct, municipality, or other sub¬ 
division of the state, shall ever make donations to any railroad, or other 
works of internal improvement, unless a proposition so to do shall have 
been first submitted to the qualified electors thereof, at an election by 
authority of law. Provided, that such donations of a county with the 
donations of such subdivisions in the aggregate shall not exceed ten per 
cent of the assessed valuation of such county. Provided further, that 
any city or county may, by a two-thirds vote, increase such indebted¬ 
ness five per cent in addition to such ten per cent; and no bonds or evi¬ 
dences of indebtedness so issued shall be valid, unless the same shall 
have endorsed thereon a certificate signed by the secretary and auditor 
of state, showing that the same is issued pursuant to law. 

Sec. 3. The credit of the state shall never be given or loaned in 
aid of any individual, association, or corporation. 

ARTICLE XIV—MILITIA. 

Sec. 1. The Legislature shall determine what persons shall con¬ 
stitute the militia of the state, and may provide for organizing and dis¬ 
ciplining the same. 


34 


THE CONSTITUTION OF 


ARTICLE XV—MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS. 

Sec. 1. Executive and judicial officers and members of the Legis¬ 
lature, before they enter upon their official duties, shall take and sub¬ 
scribe the following oath, or affirmation: “I do solemnly swear (or 
affirm) that I will support the Constitution of the United States, and the 
Constitution of the State of Nebraska, and will faithfully discharge the 

duties of.according to the best of my ability, and 

that at the election at which I was chosen to fill said office, I have not 
improperly influenced in any way the vote of any elector, and have not 

accepted, nor will I accept or receive, directly or indirectly, any money 

♦ 

or other valuable thing from any corporation, company or person, or any 
promise of office, for any official act or influence (for any vote I may 
give or withhold on any bill, resolution, or appropriation).” Any such 
officer or member of the Legislature who shall refuse to take the oath 
herein prescribed, shall forfeit his office, and any person who shall be 
convicted of having sworn falsely to, or of violating his said oath shall 
forfeit his office, and thereafter be disqualified from holding any office 
of profit or trust in this state unless he shall have been restored to civil 
rights. 

Sec. 2. Any person who is in default as collector and custodian of 
public money or property shall not be eligible to any office of trust or 
profit under the constitution or laws of this state; nor shall any person 
convicted of felony be eligible to office unless he shall have been re¬ 
stored to civil rights. 

Sec. 3. Drunkenness shall be a cause of impeachment and removal 
from office. 

Sec. 4. The necessity of water for domestic use and for irrigation 
purposes in the State of Nebraska is hereby declared to be a natural 
want. 

Sec. 5. The use of the water of every natural stream within the 
State of Nebraska is hereby dedicated to the people of the state for 
beneficial purposes, subject to the provisions of the following section. 

Sec. 6. The right to divert unappropriated waters of every natural 
stream for beneficial use shall never be denied except when such denial 
is demanded by the public interest. Priority of appropriation shall give 
the better right as between those using the w r ater for the same purpose, 
but when the waters of any natural stream are not sufficient for the use 
of all those desiring to use the same, those using the water foi domestic 
purposes shall have preference over those claiming it for any other pur¬ 
pose, and those using the -water for agricultural purposes shall have the 
preference over those using the same for manufacturing purposes. Pro¬ 
vided, no inferior right to the use of the waters of this state shall be 
acquired by a superior right without just compensation therefor to the 
inferior user. 



THE STATE OF NEBRASKA 


35 


Sec. 7. The use of the waters of the state for power purposes shall 
be deemed a public use and shall never be alienated, but may be leased 
or otherwise developed as by law prescribed. « 

Sec. 8. Laws may be enacted regulating the hours and conditions of 
employment of women and children, and securing to such employees a 
proper minimum wage. 

Sec. 9. Laws may be enacted providing for the investigation, submis¬ 
sion and determination of controversies 'between employers and em¬ 
ployees in any business or vocation affected with a public interest, and 
for the prevention of unfair business practices and unconscionable gains 
in any business or vocation affecting the public welfare. An Industrial 
Commission may be created for the purpose of administering such laws, 
and appeals shall lie to the Supreme Court from the final orders and 
judgments of such commission. 

Sec. 10. On and after May 1, 1917, the manufacture, the sale, the 
keeping for sale or barter, the sale or barter, under any pretext, of malt, 
spirituous, vinous or other intoxicating liquors, are forever prohibited in 
this state, except for medicinal, scientific, or mechanical, or sacramental 
purposes. 

Sec. 11. The Legislature may provide that, at the general election 
immediately preceding the expiration of the term of a United States 
Senator from this state, the electors may by ballot express their pref¬ 
erence for some person for the office of United States Senator. The 
votes cast for such candidates shall be canvassed and returned in the 
same manner as for state officers. 

Sec. 12. The seat of government of the state shall not be removed 
or relocated without the assent of a majority of the electors of the state 
voting thereupon, at a general election or elections, under such rules 
and regulations as to the number of elections and manner of voting and 
places to be voted for, as may be prescribed by law. Provided the 
question of removal may be submitted at such other general elections 
as may be provided by law. 

ARTICLE XVI—AMENDMENTS. 

Sec. 1. Either branch of the Legislature may propose amendments 
to this constitution, and if the same be agreed to by three-fifths of the 
members elected to each house, such proposed amendment shall be 
entered on the journals, with the yeas and nays, and published once 
each week for four weeks, in at least one newspaper in each county, 
where a newspaper is published, immediately preceding the next election 
of members of the Legislature. At such election said amendments shall 
be submitted to the electors for approval or rejection upon a ballot sep¬ 
arate from that upon which the names of candidates appear. If a ma- 


THE CONSTITUTION OF 


36 

jority of the electors voting on any such amendment adopt the same, it 
shall become a part of this constitution, provided the votes cast in favor 
of such amendment shall not be less than thirty-five per cent of the 
total votes cast at such election. When two or more amendments are 
submitted at the same election, they shall be so submitted as to enable 
the electors to vote on each amendment separately. 

Sec. 2. When three-fifths of the members elected to each branch 
of the Legislature deem it necessary to call a convention to revise, 
amend, or change this constitution, they shall recommend to the elec¬ 
tors to vote at the next election of members of the Legislature, for or 
against a convention, and if a majority voting at said election vote for 
a convention, the Legislature shall, at its next session, provide by 
law for calling the same. The convention shall consist of as many 
members as the House of Representatives, who shall be chosen in the 
same manner, and shall meet within three months after their election, 
for the purpose aforesaid. No amendment or change of this constitution, 
agreed upon by such convention, shall take effect until the same has 
been submitted to the electors of the state, and adopted by a majority 
of those voting for and against the same. 

ARTICLE XVII—SCHEDULE. 

Sec. 1. The several amendments passed and submitted by this 
Convention when adopted at the election shall take effect on the first 
day of January, 1921, except as otherwise specifically provided by 
schedule attached to any of said amendments. .Provided that the pro¬ 
posed Amendment Number 18, relative to equal suffrage shall take ef¬ 
fect, if adopted, immediately upon proclamation by the Governor. All 
laws then in force, not inconsistent with the constitution as amended by 
such proposals as may be adopted at such election, shall continue in 
force until amended or repealed. If any of the amendments passed and 
submitted by this Convention and adopted by the electors be incon¬ 
sistent with any provisions of the present constitution, such amendments 
shall be held to prevail. 

Sec. 2. That Sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 15, 16, 17, 18, 
19, 21, 22, 23, 24, and 27 of Article XVI be repealed and eliminated there¬ 
from. 

Sec. 3. Until otherwise provided by law the following salaries shall 
be paid: 

Chief Justice, Judges of the Supreme Court and Governor, each 
$7,500 per annum; Judges of the District Court, Secretary of State, Audi¬ 
tor of Public Accounts, Commissioner of Public Lands and Buildings, 
Treasurer, Attorney Gerferal, Superintendent of Public Instruction and 
members of the State Railway Commission, each $5,000 per annum. 
The Lieutenant Governor shall receive twice the compensation of a 
State Senator. 


THE STATE OF NEBRASKA 


37 


Sec. 4. The general election of this state shall be held on the Tues¬ 
day succeeding the first Monday of November in the year 1914 and 
every two years thereafter. All state, district, county, precinct and 
township officers, by the constitution or laws made elective by the peo¬ 
ple, except school district officers, and municipal officers in cities, vil¬ 
lages and towns, shall be elected at a general election to be held as 
aforesaid. Judges of the supreme, district and county courts, all elective 
county and precinct officers, and all other elective officers, the time for 
the election of whom is not herein otherwise provided for, and which 
are not included in the above exception, shall be elected on the Tuesday 
succeeding the first Monday in November, 1913, and thereafter at the 
general election next preceding the time of the termination of their re- 
spctive term of office. Provided, that no office shall be vacated thereby, 
but the incumbent thereof shall hold over until his successor is duly 
elected and qualified. 

Sec. 5. The terms of office of all state and county officers, of 
judges of the supreme, district and county courts, and regents of the 
University, shall begin on the first Thursday after the first Tuesday in 
January next succeeding their election, the present state and county 
officers, members of the Legislature, and regents of the University shall 
continue in office until their successors shall be elected and qualified. 

Sec. 6. The Legislature shall pass all laws necessary to carry into 
effect the provisions of this constitution. 

Sec. 7. The auditor shall draw the warrants of the state quarterly 
for the payment of the salaries of all officers under this constitution, 
whose compensation is not otherwise provided for, which shall be paid 
out of any funds not otherwise appropriated. 

Sec. 8. Until otherwise provided by law, the judges of district 
courts shall fix the time of holding courts in their respective districts. 

Sec. 9. This constitution shall be enrolled and deposited in the 
office of the Secretary of State, and printed copies thereof shall be 
prefixed to the books containing the laws of the state, and all future 
editions thereof. 


The Constitution of 1875 was authenticated and attested as follows: 
“John Lee Webster, President; O. A. Abbott, Luke Agur, J. P. Becker, 
J. E. Boyd, Clinton Briggs, Jefferson H. Broady, Charles H. Brown, S. i. 
Burtch, S. H. Calhoun, E. C. Cams, T. S. Clark, S. H. Coats, A. H. 
Conner, W. B. Cummins, James Harper, Robert B. Harrington, J. B. 
Hawley, M. L. Hayward, D. P. Henry, B. I. Hinman, M. R. Hopewell, 
C E Hunter, A. G. Kendall, S. M. Kirkpatrick, James Laird, Charles i. 
Manderson, A. W. Matthews, Frank Martin, Samuel Maxwell, John Me- 



38 


THE CONSTITUTION OF 


Pherson, W. H. Munger, J. H. Perry, C. W. Pierce, S. B. Pound, James 
W. Dawes, J. E. Doom, W. L. Dunlap, R. C. Eldridge, J. G. Ewan, S. R. 
Foss, C. H. Frady, Joseph Garber, C. H. Gere, Henry Grebe, Edwin N. 
Grenell, George L. Griffing, William A. Gwyer, Andrew Hallner, J. D. 
Hamilton, Isaac Powers, Jr., M. B. Reese, W. M. Robertson, Josiah 
Rogers, J. H. Sauls, H. H. Shedd, Geo. S. Smith, W. H. Sterns, R. F. 
Stevenson, John J. Thompson, L. B. Thorne, Jacob Vallery, Sr., C. H. 
Van Wyck, Charles T. Walther, A. M. Walling, T. L. Warrington, A. J. 
Weaver, M. W. Wilcox, J. P. Zediker.” 


The foregoing is the Constitution of the State of Nebraska of 1875 
and the several amendments thereto, including the amendments pro¬ 
posed by the Constitutional Convention of 1919-1920 and adopted at the 
special election held on the 21st day of September, 1920, and the same 
is a true and correct compilation thereof. 


Done in Convention at the Capitol, in the City of Lincoln, this 19th 
day of October, 1920. 


Witness our hands the day and vear last above written. 


A. J. WEAVER, President 

I. L. ALBERT 
LEWIS K. ALDER 
WALTER L. ANDERSON 
GEO. S. AUSTIN 
JOSEPH G. BEELER 
ANSON H. BIGELOW 

A. T. BRATTON 
WILBUR F. BRYANT 

B. F. BUTLER 
HENRY R. CLEVE 
CHARLES H. CORNELL 
FESTUS COROTHERS 
EDWARD A. COUFAL 

J. A. DONOHOE 
CHAS. H. EPPERSON 
I. D. EVANS 

EMIL FAUQUET 
EDGAR FERNEAU 

C. C. FLANSBURG 
WM. GRUEBER 
JACOB F. HALDERMAN 
GEO. H. HASTINGS 
JOHN HEASTY 
JAMES H. H. HEWETT 
M. J. HIGGINS 


W. D. HOLBROOK 

JERRY HOWARD 

GEORGE JACKSON 

HARRY JOHNSON 

GEO. C. JUNKIN 

HARRY L. KEEFE 

H. G. KEENEY 

WILLIAM G. KIECK 

THOS. LAHNERS 

GEORGE LANDGREN 

HARRY LEHMAN 

J. G. W. LEWIS 

H. D. LUTE 

GEORGE A. MAGNEY 

FRANK MALICKY 

R. A. MATTESON 

W. A. MESERVE 

n. p. McDonald 

CHARLES F. McLAUGHLIN 

CHARLES McLEOD 

GEO. E. NORMAN 

J. N. NORTON 

R. S. NORVAL 

FRED A. NYE 

C. PETRUS PETERSON 

WM. H. PITZER 


THE STATE OF NEBRASKA 


ERNEST M. POLLARD 
C. W. PUGSLEY 
F. C. RADKE 

I. C. RANKIN 

J. D. REAM 
HERBERT RHOADES 
ELMER E. ROSS 
CHARLES L. SAUNDERS 
P. W. SCOTT 

C. W. SEARS 
WILLIAM A. SELLECK 
SEYMOUR S. SIDNER 
O. S. SPILLMAN 
E. J. SPIRK 
A. W. SPRICK 
W. M. STEBBINS 


JOHN M. STEWART 
EMIL G. STOLLEY 
DAVID E. STRONG 
EDWARD SUGHROUE 
MURT M. SULLIVAN 
C. V. SVOBODA 

L. J. TE POEL 
CHAS. J. THIELEN 

M. D. TYLER 

A. L. ULLSTROM 
L. A. VARNER 
JOSEPH T. VOTAVA 
AARON WALL 
EVERETT P. WILSON 
R. A. WILSON 
JOHN WILTSE 




library of congress 


o 033 239 159 8 

; ■' V, 












/ 




/ 









' 











